Pathfinder Adventure Path: Skull & Shackles Part 1 - The Wormwood Mutiny

96 Pages·2012·19.65 MB·English

by  Richard Pett

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ADVENTURE PATH • PART 1 of 6 ®
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credits
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Creative Director • James Jacobs
Senior Art Director • Sarah E. Robinson
Managing Editor • F. Wesley Schneider
Development Lead • Rob McCreary
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Editing • Judy Bauer, Christopher Carey, Patrick Renie, and James L. Sutter
Editorial Assistance • Jason Bulmahn, Mark Moreland, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Sean K Reynolds
Graphic Designer • Andrew Vallas
Production Specialist • Crystal Frasier ®
Cover Artist
Daryl Mandryk
Cartographers ™
Jason Engle and Robert Lazzaretti
Contributing Artists
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Mariusz Gandzel, Mikaël Léger, Emiliano Pretrozzi, Daniel Rizea, Craig J Spearing, Doug Stambaugh, and Tyler Walpole
Contributing Authors
Jesse Benner, Robin D. Laws, Richard Pett, Sean K Reynolds, Steven D. Russell, and F. Wesley Schneider
™
Publisher • Erik Mona
Paizo CEO • Lisa Stevens
Vice President of Operations • Jeffrey Alvarez
Director of Sales • Pierce Watters ®
Sales Assistant • Dylan Green
Finance Manager • Christopher Self
Staff Accountant • Kunji Sedo
Technical Director • Vic Wertz
™
Campaign Coordinator • Mike Brock
Special Thanks
The Paizo Customer Service, Warehouse, and Website Teams

This product makes use of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2,
Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide, and Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat. These rules can be found online as part of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Reference Document at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd.
This product is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the 3.5 edition of the world’s
oldest fantasy roleplaying game.
Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not
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Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game
Content, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content
may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
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Pathfinder Adventure Path #55: The Wormwood Mutiny © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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table of contents
Foreword 4
The Wormwood Mutiny 6
by Richard Pett
NPC Gallery 52
by Richard Pett
Skull & Shackles Treasures 58
by Richard Pett
The Life of a Pirate 60
by Jesse Benner, Richard Pett, and F. Wesley Schneider
Besmara 68
by Sean K Reynolds
Pathfinders’ Journal: The Treasure of Far Thallai 1 of 6 74
by Robin D. Laws
Bestiary 80
by Jesse Benner, Sean K Reynolds, and Steven D. Russell
Campaign Outline 90
Preview 92
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Black-Hearted Miscreants
or Daring Scoundrels
Welcome to the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, where they should all want to play pirates of one stripe or another.
piracy is the rule, and plunder and infamy fill the seas of The PCs came to Port Peril to become pirates, to earn
Golarion! In this month’s adventure, “The Wormwood fortunes, to be adored by men and women, and live lives
Mutiny,” the PCs find themselves unwilling members of of fame—or perhaps infamy—at sea. They could be scurvy
a pirate crew. The adventure assumes that the PCs all were knaves who would slit a throat without a second’s thought,
in Port Peril, the capital of the Shackles, and that they or they might be dandy swashbucklers with hearts of gold
fell afoul of a pirate press gang. They wake up the next in search of fame and glory on the high seas. Whatever
morning in the hold of the pirate ship Wormwood, where course they choose, piracy should be in their blood. This
the adventure begins. The campaign traits presented doesn’t mean the players can’t play good characters, but
in the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide (available for free at they should be scoundrels, more interested in plunder and
paizo.com) provide hooks for each PC that describe the high-seas adventure than heroics and saving the world.
circumstances of their capture. Likewise, you should make sure that your players are
It’s important to manage your players’ expectations for ready and willing for the unique challenges this adventure
this Adventure Path right from the start. Most importantly, presents. The first part of “The Wormwood Mutiny” takes
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Foreword
place aboard the Wormwood, a pirate ship filled to the
gunwales with dangerous cutthroats, and the PCs wake
ON THE COVER
up in the ship’s hold as little more than prisoners, with
next to no equipment. Played right, this can be a fun way This month’s cover gives us the notorious Free Captain
to start an adventuring career, but your players need to be of the Shackles Barnabas Harrigan, captain of the pirate
onboard with the assumptions of the adventure. ship Wormwood. Although he is destined to become one
of the PCs’ greatest rivals in their quests to become Free
T B A P
HE iRTH of AN DVENTURE ATH Captains in their own right, the PCs will have to wait until
Although I’ve been the development lead on the past three they’re more infamous pirates themselves before they’re
Pathfinder Adventure Paths—Serpent’s Skull, Carrion ready to face him. For now, Harrigan is just a figure to be
Crown, and Jade Regent—Skull & Shackles represents hated and reviled, the tyrannical captain who holds the
a first for me in several ways. Serpent’s Skull, and to an PCs’ fates in his hands.
even greater extent, Jade Regent, were the brainchildren of
James Jacobs, and though I developed all of the adventures,
it was James who outlined the Adventure Paths, and my
development process involved a lot of consultation with Master of the Gales will get their time in the spotlight
him to ensure that the individual adventures matched his as well, not to mention new characters such as Captain
original concepts for the overall plots of the campaigns. Barnabas Harrigan, the despicable Mr. Plugg, and Isabella
Likewise, it should be no surprise that the Carrion “Inkskin” Locke.
Crown Adventure Path and all of its gothic horror was But an outline is only the first step. I still needed authors
Wes Schneider’s baby, once again requiring significant for the six adventures of Skull & Shackles. As usual, our
contribution on his part during the development process. freelancers stepped up to plate, with Richard Pett taking the
But with Skull & Shackles, I finally get an Adventure helm of the first installment, “The Wormwood Mutiny.” I
Path all my own. Just as James created Ameiko Kaijitsu don’t know if it’s because of “Rule, Britannia!”, or maybe
way back in Pathfinder #1 in preparation for eventual because I’ve read too many Horatio Hornblower novels,
reappearance in the Jade Regent Adventure Path, and as but it seemed fitting that an Englishman should write
Wes had originally created the nation of Ustalav to be a our inaugural high-seas adventure, and Mr. Pett has done
setting for what would eventually become the Carrion an outstanding job. Perennial Adventure Path author
Crown Adventure Path, I’ve wanted to work on a pirate AP Greg Vaughan has also stepped in, as well as two RPG
since my very first freelance assignment for Paizo, when I Superstars, Neil Spicer and Matt Goodall. And finally,
got the opportunity to write four of the countries detailed stalwart adventure writers Tim Hitchcock and Jason
in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, including the Nelson agreed to round out the all-star cast of authors.
pirate isles of the Shackles. If you’re reading this foreword, it means the Skull &
As we brainstormed ideas for the Adventure Path to Shackles Adventure Path has finally been born, and is
follow Jade Regent, I threw out my pirates idea, and was set to lead a full and adventurous life at the table of you
apparently passionate enough about it to get the rest of and your players. Skull & Shackles might be my baby,
the team excited about it as well. Since this was a new but I leave it now in your capable hands, to create tales of
idea, of course, and not one of the secret projects held and swashbuckling adventure and piratical legend for years to
nurtured for years in the minds of James and Wes, it fell come. As always, stop by the messageboards at paizo.com
to me to do all of background work to get this AP off the to tell us what you think and how the campaign has turned
ground. I made copious notes, wrote an outline, and with out in your game, or to get more ideas from other great
lots of feedback from the rest of the team, revised it several GMs running the Adventure Path.
times, until we had the best ideas that incorporated all of So down your cup of grog, hoist the sails, and set a steady
the pirate themes we all know and love from fiction and course for the Shackles, where plunder and infamy galore
movies: attacking ships at sea, raiding coastal settlements, await those who can seize it!
naval combat, digging for buried treasure, being marooned
on a deserted island, ghost ships, storms, sea serpents,
sunken ships, and many, many more.
At the same time, of course, I got the chance to populate
the Adventure Path with characters I had created back
when I first wrote about the Shackles. James may have Rob McCreary
Ameiko, and Wes has Ailson Kindler, but now Tessa Developer
Fairwind, Avimar Sorrinash, Arronax Endymion, and the [email protected]
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advancement track
“The Wormwood Mutiny” is
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art ne he ormwood designed for four characters and
uses the medium XP track.
The PCs get a firsthand look at the life of a pirate when they wake
up in the hold of a pirate ship and are forced to join its crew of
cutthroats and scoundrels.
Page 7 The PCs begin this
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adventure at 1st level.
P t : t m ’ P
art wo he an s romIse
When the Wormwood
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The PCs get their first taste of real piracy when their ship attacks a
attacks the Man’s Promise,
merchant vessel and they are assigned to the skeleton crew that will
the PCs should be 2nd level.
sail the captured ship back to port.
Page 31
The PCs should be
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3rd level before they
P t : B I
art hree onewrack sle
descend into Riptide Cove.
Driven aground in a terrible storm, the PCs must explore a tropical
island in search of missing crewmates and supplies for their ship,
The PCs should be 4th level by
before seizing both the ship and their own destinies.
Page 39 the adventure’s end.
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The Wormwood Mutiny
adventure Background
The Free Captains of the Shackles have long been a
FIREARMS IN SKULL & SHACKLES
thorn in the sides of the nations of the Inner Sea, and
no country has chafed under their predations as much Although rules for firearms appear in Pathfinder RPG
as Cheliax. Unfortunately, removing the threat of the Ultimate Combat, firearms are relatively rare on Golarion—
pirates by invasion is made almost impossible by the they have been around for little more than 100 years, and are
howling winds and treacherous currents of the Eye of still uncommon outside of Alkenstar. As a result, firearms
Abendego, the permanent hurricane that rages just north do not appear in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path until
of the Shackles. Since the defeat of two Chelish fleets in the final adventure, when the PCs face the Hurricane King,
4643 and 4660 ar, respectively, the House of Thrune has one of the few Shackles pirates to possess firearms.
longed for revenge and the chance to eliminate the pirate For some, however, piracy and firearms go hand
confederacy once and for all. in hand, and a swashbuckling pirate Adventure Path
This chance finally presented itself when the Chelish navy would be incomplete without a trusty cutlass and pistol.
recently captured Barnabas Harrigan, a Free Captain of the Fortunately, it is relatively easy to add firearms to your
Shackles who had long plagued Chelish merchant shipping campaign if you want to include them in your game.
in the Inner Sea and Arcadian Ocean. Facing execution for Each adventure in the Skull & Shackles Adventure
his crimes and the scuttling of his ship Wormwood, Harrigan Path will contain notes with suggestions on modifying
offered Cheliax a deal—if they gave him immunity from his the adventure to include firearms. In “The Wormwood
past crimes, he would lead a Chelish fleet to the Shackles Mutiny,” there are ample opportunities to not only include
to put an end to the threat of the pirate confederacy once characters who use firearms, but also give the PCs access to
and for all. And once he had handed the Shackles over to those firearms. Perhaps the quartermaster’s store (area A9)
Cheliax, perhaps Harrigan could get himself appointed contains a few firearms that the PCs could steal, or maybe
governor of the new Chelish colony there. the booty on board the Man’s Promise includes a brace of
But such plans take time, and Harrigan needed to pistols that Captain Harrigan presents to Mr. Plugg, who
solidify his own position in the hierarchy of the Free would naturally use them against mutineers. It’s also
Captains before he could seize power following the possible that firearms survived the wreck of the Infernus on
Chelish invasion, all the while ensuring that no word got Bonewrack Isle, and ended up in the castaway Arron Ivy’s
out of his treachery. Fortunately, with the exception of a stockade (area C8) or were carried off to Riptide Cove (area
few close confidantes of the captain, the Wormwood’s crew D) by the grindylows on the island.
was decimated in the battle with the Chelish navy, but
Harrigan needed to replenish his crew with fresh bodies.
He returned to Port Peril, the rough-and-tumble capital
of the Shackles, to press-gang new hands for his ship— Promise, and are chosen as part of the skeleton crew placed
including the PCs, who now find themselves members of on the captured ship. With a smaller crew, and the first
his crew of scoundrels and cutthroats. With a hold full mate Mr. Plugg in command, the opportunity to mutiny
of impressed sailors, the Wormwood left Port Peril and finally presents itself. Before the PCs can overthrow
headed for the open sea, where Harrigan will put his plans their pirate captors, however, a powerful storm arises and
into motion. Harrigan’s new crew, including the PCs, need cripples the Man’s Promise, grounding it on a small island
to quickly adapt to life on a pirate ship, or suffer the harsh at the edge of the Shackles, where the island’s monstrous
consequences of pirate justice. inhabitants attack the ship and kidnap some of the PCs’
friends in the crew. As the rest of the crew repairs the ship,
A S
dventure ummAry the PCs explore the island to gather needed supplies and
Having been press-ganged off the streets of Port Peril, the find their missing friends.
PCs wake up in the hold of the pirate ship Wormwood and are When the PCs return to the ship, they and their allies
forced to join the crew of the despicable Captain Barnabas can finally take on Mr. Plugg and those pirates loyal to
Harrigan. As they get used to life as pirates, the PCs soon him to seize control of the ship and finally become pirates
make both enemies and friends among the ship’s crew. in their own right.
Gradually, the PCs become the center of talk of mutiny—
they might be unwilling crew members on the Wormwood, Part one: the wormwood
but they’re pirates at heart, and want to control their own The adventure begins as the PCs wake up in the hold of
destinies rather than serving under Captain Harrigan. Captain Barnabas Harrigan’s Wormwood. The campaign
As members of the Wormwood’s crew, the PCs take part in traits from the Pathfinder Adventure Path Skull & Shackles
an attack on a Rahadoumi merchant ship called the Man’s Player’s Guide (available for free at paizo.com) provide
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information about how each PC ended up on the elcome to the Weet rAde
Wormwood. If you’re not using those traits, the PCs should The PCs wake up the following morning in the dark hold
each have a reason for being in Port Peril, and should of the Wormwood (area A10). They all remember the night
be eager to embrace (or at least should not have strong before—the ringing laughter of a wild night, the heady
opposition to) a life of piracy and adventure on the high joy of excess, the scents of rich stewed meat and perfume
seas. It is not necessary for the PCs to know each other— lingering in their nostrils. Then describe the sensations
they’ll have plenty of time to become acquainted during that the PCs feel—a pounding headache, the sickly taste
the coming weeks aboard the Wormwood. Whatever their of cheap wine in their mouths, the hard floor, a rhythmic
reasons for being in Port Peril, each of the PCs spent creaking noise, and the feeling of the room swaying, as if
the previous night drinking at the Formidably Maid, a they were still drunk. Before the PCs can do much more
notorious drinking establishment in Port Peril, where a than sit up, however, several pairs of heavy footsteps enter
press gang from the Wormwood marked them as targets. the dark room, and the harsh light of a lantern painfully
After drugging the PCs into unconsciousness, the press spears the PCs’ eyes.
gang dumped them in the ship’s hold to sleep it off, where Creatures: Master Scourge, the Wormwood’s boatswain,
the PCs soon get a rude awakening. master-at-arms, and infamous disciplinarian, has
entered the hold to wake the PCs and get them up to the
main deck. Six rough-looking Wormwood pirates, armed
with saps, accompany him. An expression that might be
mistaken for pain but which is clearly an
attempt at a smile bruises Scourge’s face
as he cracks the whip in his hand and
screams at the PCs.
“Still abed with the sun over the yardarm?
On your feet, ye filthy swabs! Get up on
deck and report for duty before Cap’n
Harrigan flays your flesh into sausage skins
and has Fishguts fry ye up for breakfast!”
The PCs quickly discover that most, if
not all, of their weapons and equipment
are gone (see below). If the PCs refuse,
even momentarily, to accompany Scourge, he
lashes out at any offending PCs with his whip. If
necessary, he calls for aid from the pirates, who attack
uncooperative characters with their saps. It should be
immediately clear to the PCs that if they don’t cooperate,
they will quickly be overpowered. Scourge and the pirates
herd the PCs up through the middle deck (area A6) and
onto the Wormwood’s main deck (area A3) to meet the
ship’s captain.
As the PCs make their way to the main deck, they can
begin to adjust to their surroundings and deduce
what happened to them. A DC 10 Perception
check discerns the aftertaste of oily nutmeg on
the tongue. A DC 15 Craft (alchemy) check or DC
10 Knowledge (nature) check recognizes this as a
clear sign of oil of taggit poisoning (Pathfinder RPG
Core Rulebook 560). Each PC remembers indulging
in either spicy food or spicy rum late last night, and
those who made the above checks realize that the
oil was likely added to their food or drink, and the
Master Scourge
spices hid the taste of the taggit oil. Any PCs who
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